Trademark's potent brew

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German band Trademark is a potent mix of talented musicians who first met in a pub back home.

Their popularity in Hong Kong can be traced to a local TV series, Healing Hands, whose theme song was copied from Miss You Finally, a famous ballad by Trademark.

The charming trio - Mirko Baumer, Achim Remling and Sascha Sadeghian - was in the SAR recently for the second time to kick off a world tour to promote their debut album, Another Time, Another Place.

Popular for their simple but throbbing music, Trademark was formed in 1995, and rose to stardom 'by accident'.

One night, a faulty CD player forced the threesome to sing together for the first time.

From then on there was no stopping them as the group staged 200 concerts to take the music world by storm.

Renowned for his booming voice, Baumer started singing at the tender age of 10.

'I was on stage for the first time in high school. We played self-written German rock songs. I sang for several bands before I got to know Sascha,' he said.

He worked as a waiter in a pub in Sadeghian's hometown and they met Remling there. 'Every Wednesday we had a karaoke show and we were made to sing the last song of the night,' Baumer said.

He is deeply influenced by the music of Queen and Freddy Mercu ry. The singer is also a talented graphic artist, but music is his first love.

Off the stage, Baumer likes to go out for a pizza and beer with his two band members and generally have a good time.

Sadeghian started playing the guitar at 12 and dreamed of composing his own songs.

'I love all kinds of music, in particular pop, rock, soul and country ballads. Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton and James Ingram are my favourite singers,' he said.

As for Remling, music runs in the family. His father is a famous singer in Germany, with two hit singles.

The trio like Asian food. 'I like Chinese and Indonesian food. The spices in Asia are delicious. I love it when my throat begins to burn a little,' Remling said.

Baumer and Sadeghian were surprised to hear that Miss You Finally had topped the music charts in Hong Kong. 'This is the best number in our first album. We are glad that a TV series had helped boost our popularity,' Baumer said.

The CD also includes two other hit songs, I'll Be the One and I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore .

'They are love songs full of passion and we tried our best to arouse the listeners' feelings. That's not an easy thing to do,' Remling said.

After spending Christmas with their families in Germany, the group are off to Europe and South Africa before heading back to Asia early this year to launch their second album.